Li Shiwen guarded a strategic pass, but there were many other routes up and down the city walls. The Xuanqin troops had already entered the city through other places, opened the city gates.
The Xuanqin troops had already surged in from the city gates, and the frontline had already shifted from the top of the city wall to within the city...
At the top of the Xuanqin main force, under the big flag, on the heavily guarded horses and carriages, the Xuanqin Grand Marshal Zhao Li stood high up, watching the endless stream of Xuanqin troops pouring in from the city gates, thinking to himself: "It's over!"
Wuyi City was over, and the North Chu nation was over too.
At this time the city had fallen, it just remained to kill everyone!
"The greater situation has passed..." He said these four words with a smile at the corner of his mouth.
But before his words had faded, an abrupt change occurred.
More than a dozen thick purple sword qi suddenly flew out from the top of Wuyi City, slicing wildly several times with a "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh", and cut down all the Xuanqin climbing equipment attached to the city walls.
After slashing the equipment, the sword qi did not stop, it turned and inserted vertically in front of the city gates, sealing all the city gates, separating the Xuanqin troops inside and outside the city into two segments.
That sword qi was truly terrifying. All the Xuanqin troops who attempted to approach it were shredded into blood mist by the sharp qi.
For a time, the Xuanqin army halted and fell back in spite of themselves, leaving a large empty space under Wuyi City.
Then a clear female voice rang out from the top of Wuyi City, spreading through the entire Xuanqin army: "Stop right there!"
The voice echoed around the ears, striking fear into the heart. Zhao Li looked up towards the top of Wuyi City, and saw an imposing giant white tiger standing on the city wall, and on top of that white tiger's head, a white-clothed woman holding a sword was shouting. It was that woman who was shouting.
"Who is that?" He asked left and right.
Left and right did not know, so someone was sent to the base of the tower to ask: "Who are you?"
Li Shiyin's voice rang out in response: "I am Li Shiyin of North Chu! Guardian of North Chu!"
Her clear voice resounded through the darkness, spreading through the Xuanqin army. That voice was originally extremely pleasant to the ear, but in the ears of the Xuanqin troops, it carried tremendous prestige, striking fear into the Xuanqin soldiers and horses, disturbing their formation as they retreated back several more steps.
"Li Shiyin, Li Shiwen?" Because the battle horse was startled, the carriage frame shook, and Zhao Li also swayed as he asked aloud, "Could it be she is that cultivator from the Li family... the Li Shiyin that Yan Qing spoke of?!"
No one knew the answer, nor did anyone reply to him.
He pondered by himself for a while, and finally realized that a powerful cultivator was indeed not something he could deal with. So he asked his left and right: "Where are the cultivators in the army?"
Someone came forward, knelt down, and said, "The cultivators who accompanied the army today... have all died."
Zhao Li recalled the purple fireworks that had blossomed in the air earlier, and saw the purple sword qi in front. Only then did he realize that those cultivators had probably all been killed by Li Shiyin.
Fortunately, he did not care about the life and death of cultivators at all, just like how cultivators did not care about the life and death of ordinary people. He said to his left and right again: "Return to camp... to invite..."
Whether cultivators live or die is unimportant. Wuyi City must be attacked tonight.
Then someone rode on horseback to the main camp to invite cultivators over. But before the person inviting the cultivators had returned, someone else rushed over on horseback from behind, handing over military information.
Upon receiving and looking over the military intelligence from behind, Zhao Li saw that it was actually Elder Ziyi ordering him to retreat.
"Retreat?!" He almost choked.
It had developed to this point tonight, the situation was like this, just lacking the final blow, just one more step. Yet he was ordering a retreat?!
Zhao Li burned with rage, the veins at the corners of his eyes bulging out. He tore the written military order into pieces.
These so-called cultivators, not a single one could be relied upon!
But... in the end...
He looked at the few terrifying sword qi in front of Wuyi City, and still gave the order to retreat.
Now without cultivators, Wuyi City really could not be attacked.
Watching the Xuanqin troops in front changing from offense to defense, gradually retreating, Li Shiyin also breathed a sigh of relief. If Xuanqin had insisted on continuing the attack despite everything, who knows how many more would have died.
She didn't have anything against killing enemies, but still felt meaningless slaughter was unnecessary.
"Have they retreated? They probably won't come again in a short time right?" Li Shiyin asked.
"You're asking me?!" Chasing Wind retorted.
"Alright then..." Asking Chasing Wind was pointless. Li Shiyin jumped down from Chasing Wind's head, and said, "I'll go take a look at Li Shiwen, you just stay here and don't run around."
"Huh? Just stay here?!" Chasing Wind's eyes opened wide in disbelief. He couldn't believe this was the treatment for the lifesaver, who had played a major role in this battle.
Li Shiyin felt a little embarrassed, but Chasing Wind was too huge, there was no good place to accommodate him in the city. She thought for a bit, coaxing him like a child, and said, "You look very majestic here. The Xuanqin troops are scared stiff as soon as they see you. Think about it, one person is an entire city."
Upon thinking it over, Chasing Wind felt she was right too. Him being here to deter the enemies did have quite the imposing manner. It's just that the city walls were not spacious enough. He would have to stay still to crouch down.
Having coaxed Chasing Wind, Li Shiyin flashed away into the city.
She had severed the inside and outside of the city with her sword qi. The Xuanqin troops left inside the city were soon killed off, captured, and the battles inside the city had also reached their end.
She ignored those minor battles, and flew straight into the manor of the city lord at the center of the city, finding Li Shiwen.
Li Shiwen's injuries were far too heavy, nearly taking his life. She had pulled him back from the brink of death using elixirs, but he still fell unconscious, currently lying in a bedroom.
When she arrived, Yu Chi Zhen, who had rushed over to take care of Li Shiwen, had just gotten there.
Upon seeing Li Shiwen's state, all of Yu Chi Zhen's worries and fears, all the emotions over these past few months, burst out in an instant. She collapsed weeping onto the bed.
Seeing Yu Chi Zhen's state, Li Shiyin also didn't know what to say for a time, and could only wait for her to finish crying before going over to help her stand up, consoling her: "He only had very serious injuries, he won't die."
Yu Chi Zhen sobbed reproachfully: "Yet he wanted to die."
After crying and gazing at Li Shiwen for a while, she turned back to ask Li Shiyin: "Is little An'an alright?"
"Li An is very well. I handed him over to my master to take care of," Li Shiyin replied.
Li Shiyin had great confidence in her master, knowing her master would take good care of the child, but Yu Chi Zhen did not. She wanted to say something more but still didn't speak out in the end.
Li Shiyin supported her to a side to sit down, comforting her: "Sister-in-law, don't worry. Big brother will wake up very soon, Xuanqin will retreat their troops very soon too. Everything will return to how it was."
But having followed the retreating North Chu army all the way here, Yu Chi Zhen didn't have much confidence. She only silently shook her head.
"With me here, everything will be fine," Li Shiyin guaranteed.
Yu Chi Zhen was feeling down and didn't want to speak. Li Shiyin attempted to start a conversation several times but she did not continue it, so Li Shiyin stopped speaking too.
The two women sat silently in the room. Li Shiyin occasionally got up to check on Li Shiwen's condition. When she discovered something was off she would take out elixirs and make him ingest them. When his condition had stabilized she would sit back down.
She would occasionally pace around the room. She suddenly felt this night was exceptionally long.
She didn't know when, but eventually faint light shone in through the window. Li Shiyin sensed it and looked outside. Dawn had broken, with light feathery snow fluttering down from the sky.
"It's snowing," she said.